My range is a private club ($60/year) and yes we have rules. Everyone must fire from behind the line, no fast fire, magazine capacity limits. Etc, etc, etc.

I don't worry about it when nobody else is around which is most of the time. But common courtesy and safety are required by adhering to the rules when others are present and I've no argument with that.

A lot of this is just so much politically correct crap to protect the club from imaginary liability but some of it is for good safety reasons also.

At the range I go to, they have a very nice 7 yard range that I do rapid fire drills on almost daily.
Official policy is that they 'discourage' rapid fire but the range guys don't seem to mind when I leave the ground littered with brass.
It's not even worth my time to pick up the brass when I can buy tumbled brass for $7 for a bag of 1000.
I shoot several hundred rounds a day, and I need to concentrate on the draw, the target, moving and firing, and I can't do that when I'm watching where I step.
Now for 357SIG, and .45 auto, yes, I stop and pick up the brass.

You have to take in consideration that ranges have to be somewhat conservative. They are already paying a fortune in liability insurance. The local governing authority would love to have them screw up so they could get some major free publicity shutting the place down.

My local range has the targets in a motorized track so no one has to go downrange to swap targets. While practicing with someone else, you can have them operate the switch, and you can practice drawing and firing as a target charges you. If using more than one lane, you can even engage multiple targets.

my range has a yellow line at 21 feet, which I'm not sure is a recommendation or the min distance. However, personally shooting any closer isn't much of a challenge. Matter of fact, neither is the 21 feet, feels too close to me. Chances are if you can group back at 25 yards, you'll do just fine at 21 feet and less.

I shoot at a primitive range that you do not want to grt any closer than 45' as tha lead has a tendency to come back out 20' or so so we do not shoot at close distance
At the present this is the only range available as the city range has been closed for over a year due to a law suit.

25 foot minimum for pistols is a problem? I don't remember that exact distance, but if you don't have your gun drawn anything less is a waste against anyone who knows what they're doing anyway. If it's over 25 ft you might want to take this up with management. 100 ft with rifles is a pratty good piece, especailly for a new shooter, best I could recommend for that is bigger targets. Might be time to look for a new range

Mike

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"Crush your enemies, See them driven before you, Hear the lamentations of their women"
Ghengis Khan on the greatest joys in life

Our county just refurbished our public shooting range. They did an excellent job. I love living in western Iowa where they realize lots of people hunt and shoot.

The range has several handgun stations out to 50 yards. There are new tables for stuff and berms around the range.

The rifle range has one standing position where you shoot through concrete tubes for about 10 yards to the targets out to 150 yards. Also there are six more shooting tubes with really nice tables to use as a rest. The tubes keep people from shooting at each other.

The berms are very high so even a windy day don't mess up shooting. It is about a half hour drive to the east of Sioux City on a state highway to Correctionville, Iowa. When you run out of ammo, there is a river there that is full of catfish, making for a fun day of activities.

There is a private club in the area too, but it isn't as nice as the county range.

What I don't understand is why people interested in self defense keeping joining gun ranges that won't allow them to practice self defense-type shooting. If you can't practice drawing from concealment, shooting rapidly, shooting on the move, etc., then you must have joined to be a bulls-eye shooter?

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"If you look through your scope and see your shoe, aim higher." -- said to me by my 11 year old daughter before going out for hogs 8/13/2011
My Hunting Videos https://www.youtube.com/user/HornHillRange

See... this is why I love Alaska. In Fairbanks, we have a new indoor range that is run by the state and is used for general marksmanship, training, hunter safety, CCP classes, etc. We also have an outdoor range that is unsupervised and creates a little more freedom. And if one of those two options don't squeeze your trigger, you get in the truck and drive for 10 minutes in any direction, get out, set up your targets, and blast away. The whole state is just one big range.

Train hard.

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A wayfarer should not walk unarmed,
But have his weapons at hand:
He knows not when he may need a spear,
Or what menace meet on the road.

Feel lucky our public range has been closed for 1.5 years due to a lawsuit because of a unqulified rangemaster.
Where I have to shoot you do not want to stand any closer than 15 yds as the lead has a tendency to come out to 10 yds.
I will admit that I do like that there is hardly anyone there when I go and I can do what ever I like and if I want to go back in the weeds I can shoot 600 yds if I want.

At my range you shoot at the pre designated ranges. The range is set up so if you do the bullet impact stays within the range. The club used to be out in the swamp with no residents around but civilization is encroaching every year. One unfortunate stray round could shut us down.

There are range selections from 25 feet to 600 feet. No ground targets allowed but on the Pistol Practice range you can set up a portable stand at closer ranges. On the "action" range (it has higher berms) you can shoot cowboy action and Intl. practical shooters course.

DrJones-
I am assuming tht your talking about the Cordova range. I feel your pain! The pistols at that range sucks, but at least you can engage multiple targets. The 100 yard range isnt too terribly bad. They might let you use your pistols on the 25 yard range were they have rifles.

I heard that Sac Valley Range is better. More distance, or you can find in indoor range. There are 2 within a 45 minute radius of Sacramento, on in Stockton and one in Vacaville. Drop me a line and let me know when you want to shoot! If you want to shoot a little further, we can shoot a small city range. they only let you practice at 20 yards.

45R

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"Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake."
- Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821)

Get this... we don't even HAVE a range! I just found out they closed the only one that was left. (Luckily I can go shoot trees on my father-in-law's land). When I lived in Denver the ranges were pretty decent. I usually stayed with 15 yards -- my house is only 900 square feet, so I don't imagine I'll need to be a sniper either. Anything closer wasn't really worth it.

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...That which does not kill me will be the basis for my revenge...

Before our range closed down (for upgrading) and our rangemaster, Dave Hummel retired, we could do a lot of stuff on our range. No drawing of weapons from holsters, but they sold target stands (or you could bring your own), set up targets a closer range for defensive shooting practice/instruction. It was great when I use to take a different gal out every month.

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